Paul Kanterman gave this d’var Friday, Aug 5.
The portions for this week are Matot and Massei which mean tribes and journeys respectively. They detail a part of the journey of the Jewish tribes from their lives as slaves in Egypt to the land of Israel. Two aspects of these parshot stood out to me. One of them was the roles of men and women in the bible, and how that differs with our roles in today’s society. The second being the brutality of the Jewish people in conquering Israel, and the relative ease of success that they had in doing this.
The Matot parshah describes what it means for a man to make a vow and for a woman to make one. Basically, if a man made a vow, it was made and expected to be followed.
“If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.”
If a woman made a vow on the other hand, there are many stipulations that apply to it, including:
“If she marries a husband, while under her vows or any thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she has bound herself, and her husband hears of it and says nothing to her on the day that he hears, then her vows shall stand, and her pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. But if, on the day that her husband comes to hear of it, he opposes her, then he makes void her vow that was on her, and the thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she bound herself. And the Lord will forgive her.”
Just some food for thought, as we have certainly come along way at least in America on the way towards gender equality. However many inequalities still exist, such as wage inequality and in Israel the women are not allowed to be at certain parts of the Western Wall. In many orthodox homes, a woman’s role can still only be that of a wife and mother, and nothing more.
Vengeance is covered in the Massei portion. Specifically, GOD tells Moses to “Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.” Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute the Lord’s vengeance on Midian.” The Israelites sent 1,000 soldiers from each tribe (for a total of 12,000) and they slaughtered not only the Midianite army, but also any males in their lands, and any women who had laid with men. Only young girls were allowed to live. This of course brings back a reminder of when the same happened to the Jewish people when the Pharaoh in Egypt called for the killing of Jewish boys and men.
However, there is a positive message in these verses, and that is that GOD was preparing the Jews for a time of prosperity to come once they reached the land of Israel. A verse in Massei states “the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, came near to Moses and said to Moses, “Your servants have counted the men of war who are under our command, and there is not a man missing from us.” This is pretty incredible, to go to war and not lose a single soldier. Also a great bounty of hundreds of thousands of cattle, donkeys, and sheep were taken from the Midianites. God was preparing the Jews for their journey into their new homeland, and providing amply for them. Sometimes in life, the struggles you go through prepare you for better times ahead. Having a strong faith will both get you through the struggles and help you to appreciate what you do have in this lifetime.
I learned this from my mother, who passed away in 2011. She was a very strong woman of faith; she kept our house kosher, attended synagogue on a weekly basis, was active in Hadassah and sisterhood, and always made great Shabbos meals. She always was doing tzedakah for others, and when she wasn’t, she was looking to. Her faith shaped many decisions in her life. She passed that on to me, and it helped me tremendously in getting through the time of her passing. Both Moses, the Israelites and people in modern times need to keep that in mind, even though there may be awful things that happen along the way, with faith in GOD, you can come out stronger.
Good evening, and Shabbat Shalom!